THANEI had flown by my private jet before; I rarely used it. I do believe technology has done more harm than good, and as werewolves we had less need for it. While the humans relied fully on the use of technology for almost... everything.Logan had left me with Isabella. She hadn't uttered a single word to me but things were better that way, as long as she was able to communicate the directions to Simon, my pilot, I was fine with the silence. The flight stretched on for a full day, and I didn't enjoy a minute of it; I would prefer Bruce ‘Shifting Spell’ anytime to this.“This is the only landing space closest to the mountains.” Simon informed us from the cockpit.“It will have to do.” I responded.Finally, the jet lowered down on a natural clearing. It was snowing lightly but I didn't need to worry about the cold; my body could maintain the heat.Isabella was the first to get out; it seemed like she had been counting the minutes and seconds till she could finally get out of the air
"The scrolls didn't say anything about how it's been used." Isabella said to me. I took the flower from her hand and tore it open; it immediately turned black. Its inside stored a strange blackish liquid. I had this weird feeling like I had seen this before. "Maybe I'm supposed to drink this," she muttered. I gave a shrug. She took it back from my hand, and I watched her drink of its sap. This was even weirder than I thought it would be. "How do you feel?" I asked. She stared down her body like she hoped to see some kind of instant change. "Nothing. I feel the same." "That means it isn't quite it. Let's get going." "No, we didn't come all this way to leave with nothing." "What do you suggest we do? Drink of all the flower's sap till we find the 'chosen' flower that cures?" "That is a smart plan." "I meant it as a joke." Just then she coughed. She bent over and threw up dark blood. "Are you alright?" I asked; she shook her head. "I don't know what is happening," she cried.
I awoke with a start. It was already morning.Gods, it had only been a dream.The tears falling down my eyes were tears of relief. I wasn't alone — I realized; slowly, I turned to see the other person on the bed, it was Thane, and he was very much awake."You seem to be having a nightmare," he said, but there was something different about him."You scared me. When did you return from your trip with Isabella?" I asked, watching him; I couldn't push away the strange feeling, like something was very wrong and yet his scent hadn't changed."A few hours ago. I didn't want to wake you," he explained."Did you... did you get the cure?" I asked him, and he nodded."Yes, I did.""So Isabella was right; there is a cure.""She is, and now you don't have to worry about me losing control; I have been cured completely.""That was...""Fast?" The word on my mind was unbelievable, but I nodded, with a smile on my face."You know I am really glad to hear this." I say, rising to my feet and heading t
THANE I woke up on the cold ground, my surroundings dim and unfamiliar—was this... a cave? I hadn't been chained; there was no need for that; I couldn't move. Everything flooded back, Isabella's betrayal—I shouldn't have trusted her. "You are awake," the voice called. Speak about the little devil. "It isn't wise to be this close to me, don't you think?" "You can't harm me; at this state, you can't even hurt a fly." "Did Logan keep you here to babysit me?" "Ah, you figured that out too; of course he is in on this too." "I guess this is revenge for sending you away from the pack?" "No. I would never do that, but that action did change everything." "I guess this is where the big revelation comes in?" "Yes, it is and there is a lot to be revealed. I didn't lose my memories. I knew who awoke me, and it was Slade, your father." "Slade?" I asked, surprised. "I think I'm done with your lies; you can keep your little explanations to yourself." "Do you really think that ghosts are r
"I'm guessing there were no truths to all you told me." "Actually, the part about me not being your father was true." Slade responded, clearly enjoying this."What is the point of all these? Kill me; one of the biggest packs in the world will be left without their Alpha.""No, I would be there to fill the space.""As a ghost? Come on, you've got to think better than that.""You are a lycan, a powerful creature; also, you are the Alpha King and that's why you are here.” he cuts his sentence off, not wanting to give out too much information. “You know it had once been me, and it could be like that again. You don't know what it felt like watching you take over my pack, what it felt like watching you take my place, what rightfully belonged to me. You were just the bastard son, and yet, the goddess gave you the crown. I think Logan is a bit jealous. He had to spend his whole life hiding while you were out there, you became everything he wanted to be and much more.""The longer I stay miss
The history books said nothing about the curse, and everything else was in there. She had brought up an explanation for that. I should have known she was lying, but I had no idea of what was happening; at that point, I would have believed anything."Flynn gave her a potion; she managed to slip it into your meals before they got delivered.""That doesn't sound very convincing; my meals are only handled by the cooks and maids; they know better than to try poison me.""Of course they do, but then again, there is… Pricilla." Realization dawned on me almost immediately. I had let her back into my pack for Axel's sake; she was his mother despite everything she had done, I wanted to give her a chance. That was my mistake. "You don't have to hate her; it wasn't exactly her fault. She was simply the easiest option. When she came to you, she never planned to betray you or the pack; she had pleaded a whole lot about how she wanted to be a changed person and how she didn't want to disappoint you
ISABELLA"He's out there in the cold; he's not being fed, and it has been a whole week; he is going to die!" I said to Logan, who only shrugged. He never did like Thane; he didn't really care. "You know what? I'm going to him." I headed for the door, but in a flash, he was already by the door, right in front of me."Should I remind you what this 'Thane' did to you? He wouldn't have cared if you drowned to death; he doesn't really give a fuck about anybody but himself and his little mate. Any other person becomes a nuisance—you became a nuisance. He rejected you, sent you away.""I betrayed him! I deserve everything I got and more.""He didn't know about your plan; he wouldn't have cared if you were innocent." I attempted walking past him, but he blocked my path once again. "After what had happened, all he would want to do is kill you; you don't need to worry about him anymore; focus on yourself and what makes you happy."Logan picked me up, his palm massaging my thigh, going higher; h
I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and for a moment I wondered if there was another way; what if he didn't have to die?"When you rejected me, I had felt so broken; I... attempted taking my own life just to end it all. Logan saved me.""Bella, once I did love you. I was willing to do anything for you. After you passed, a lot happened. I couldn't recover from your loss, and at a point, I lost myself. Years later, I met Riley, and she saved me from the monster I was becoming. I can't love two at the same time without hurting the other.""But you've always loved her more.""Yes. I do."Every time he said those words, they broke me, maybe because I knew it was true: Riley wasn't his fated mate, and still he loved her. I, on the other hand, have the benefit of the mate bond; his wolf would always be drawn to me, and yet, he didn't want me. What he felt for her was more than love; it was devotion, obsession, admiration, and so much more. Not even what we shared in the past could
ALIYA’S POVThe man standing before me was all I could think about. Sometimes he stares at me, as if trying to figure something out, then looks away. I thought about how it felt like being completely naked with Trian, alone, free.“May I ask a question?”“Of course!” I said a little too quickly. “Sorry. Yes, you may.”“Was it your first kiss?” Trian asked.I stared up at him and gave a nod. “You should have already guessed that; it’s no secret that I have never been with a man.”“Being with a man and kissing a man are two different things, Aliya.”“I liked it,” I said, shielding my face with my hair to hide the blush on my cheeks.“I can’t possibly imagine how you feel, with all your daily activities arranged out for you, so many fucking rules.”“I hate it. The more I think about it, the more I hate it, so I stopped thinking about it. I made myself believe this was home, and then it felt better, bearable even. But then I went out there, and I was reminded of all the things I’ve been m
“This is unacceptable!” Austin says. “Even though rogues are not familiar with customs and traditions, it is common sense not to attack on burial grounds.”“One of our commanders was killed.” Aric said. “It’s clear the rogues want a war.”We were all seated with the council of advisors; Alexander hadn’t said a word since the meeting began.The Dawn pack members would be devastated to hear about Gadiel’s death.“I say we give them what they want; I say we go to war.” Stark says, and some nodded in approval.“War? The rogues have the numbers, and we all know that many will die.” Seth, another of the advisors said.“They asked for it,” Austin says.“They hadn’t come into our lands, Alpha. The attack was at the Dawn’s Pack.” Seth said, he gave me a quick glance before looking away.“The Dawn Pack is now part of our pack, and the attack was aimed at my Luna, my Commander, and me. But I don’t think it’s wise to go to war. I doubt the rogue leaders are aware of this attack; perhaps those rog
I stared at my father’s lifeless body from the casket he had been placed in. He looked very much the same as he always had—the worry lines on his face were gone, and he seemed to be at peace. Alexander tightened his grip on my hands, comfortingly.All the members of the Dawn Pack were present, and even some from the Nightshade Pack.“We gather to mourn the loss of a great man—a father to us all, an Alpha. Death truly is vile; it renders even the greatest helpless. He was taken from us too soon; only the goddess knows the reason. Though he is dead, his legacy lives on. Dawn will never forget him; I will never forget him.” Gadiel finished. He was once Chief Commander of the Dawn Pack’s soldiers, I didn’t know the position he held in the Nightshade pack. It was my turn to speak before the pack; it was my turn to comfort them; I didn’t think I could do it. There was a moment of complete silence. I looked up at Alexander, and he nodded at me; somehow that was motivation enough.“My father
I managed to force down a few spoonfuls of food; I couldn’t take more than that. After a quick bath, I joined Alexander on the bed.Two hours passed, and I still couldn’t sleep. I lay there, staring at the ceiling.“I could get you a sleeping pill from the healers, it should help you sleep.” Alexander suggested.“I don’t think a pill would work this time,” I said. “Every time I close my eyes, I see this woman—the same one I saw in my nightmare, the one who killed my father.”“Your father died from an illness.”“Do you believe that? Don’t you find it all strange?”“I do. I find it very strange. I sent Aric to search the pack house for anything he could find, but the one person who might have a clue about this is your father.”“And he is dead.” I completed his sentence. “Maybe you are right; maybe it was just an illness, and I am overthinking.”“It’s never a bad thing to be suspicious,” Alexander said. “Now, try to get some sleep.”After a few minutes of trying, I finally fell into a dr
KAIDA POVAlexander had never once talked about his parents. I had always wanted to know, but seeing the pain in his eyes, I could understand why he kept it all to himself.“You don’t have to talk about it if you are not ready.”“You deserve to know.I’ve heard so many good stories about Luna Riley, my mother, and even more about the last Lycan, Alpha Thane. But I never saw it. My father loved my mother so dearly, even when she was turned. She would have died if not for a sorceress who brought her back—as a demon. I could still remember her cold skin; she always wanted me close to her; she always wanted to carry me around like a mother would her child, but she couldn’t.Demons get weakened by the sun, so she had to be locked away in her room, but that wasn’t the only reason she was being locked away. Demons have a strong thirst for blood; sometimes the pack members go missing. Every time she ‘mistakenly’ kills a person, she cries day and night. She knew that having her child with her
ALEXANDER’S POVKaida was never one to admit her feelings—especially not when they made her look weak. But back at the bar, she did. She admitted her jealousy; she admitted what she felt for me. And right then and there, I swore to myself to be loyal to her. I wanted her happy; I loved seeing her smile, but everything changed too soon when the news of her father's death reached us.She wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t even sleep. And for the first time, I saw her cry. She mourned for her father, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.Aric sat with me in my office. “The healer who had been present when he died said he had fallen into a strange coma some days before he passed. The only sign of life had been his beating heart,” Aric said.“Alpha Trent knew he was going to die; that’s why he made all the necessary arrangements. Still, I believe his illness is indeed very strange; all illnesses have their cause, but Alpha Trent’s didn’t.”“Maybe it was more than just
Trian led me away from the old creepy woman. “I did tell you that fortune tellers are liars.”“But she seemed to know a lot about me.”"From your skin tone, anyone could tell you aren’t an Aureonna by birth. The majority of the population here comes from all over the world, bound by the 'Purifying Ritual.' She’s a good guesser, but there’s nothing special about that, and you don’t have to worry about anything she says. She is a hungry woman, looking for her daily bread."“She would be rich with all those gold coins—where did you get them?”“I was an orphan, but not a poor one. I found my way around things and also built myself some good fortune.”“Then why are you here?”“Money is not the answer to everything. I am here because I want to be, not because I need the money.”“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing they were fewer people the further we went."Wait and see," he said with a smile that made my stomach flutter. We stopped before a lake.“I never knew there was a Lake in this
I looked around, taking in the crowd—more people than I had ever seen. A smile spread across my lips, the incident with the soldiers at the exit already long forgotten.Trian took my hands again; his were huge and rough—just as I imagined a warrior's hands to be. He led me into the thick of Aureonna’s city; people stared—especially women, but the stares weren’t directed at me, but at Trian."What is that?" I asked, pointing to a group of people gathered nearby. They seemed to be laughing at something."It's a play, a drama.""I want to see it."“Of course.”We weaved through the crowd of excited people, until we reached the front row.A woman with a silver wig sat on a make-shift throne; her skin seemed to have been painted white. The other woman by her side had a blonde wig on. It took me a moment to realize this was a drama about me—the woman in the silver wig was meant to be me, while the one in the blonde wig was portraying Empress Julia."Soon, you will lead us to victory. The fa
About five minutes passed, and there was still no sign of her.“Empress!” I called out. “Empress…”Just then, she broke through the surface. Her face looked different—youthful. She had entered the pool looking to be in her forties, but when she emerged, she appeared to be in her late twenties.“Empress, you look…”“Beautiful, magnificent… I know.”“How?”“The water, many believe the god of light once bathed in these waters; it’s called the Lake of Youth—It was once bigger than this, but, well, this is all that remains of it.”She put on her clothes..“It was like time had reversed, and she was given her youth again.” I said to Trian when we were back in my room.“It seems to me that you would like to take a dip in the Lake of Youth one day.”“Of course, not… the Empress would never let me.”“You fear the Empress like she is a god.”“She is a powerful woman.”“I agree, not many men alive could build a community as big as this one. But have you ever thought about how exciting it would